Dear UNSOC,
It’s hard to put into writing everything that I feel about leaving. It’s been six years in the Society and I’ve come to love each generation. You have been my family throughout my entire undergraduate experience. I awaited for the end of the week, every Friday afternoon when I would be able to see all of my friends, and then possibly go out drinking or just generally having a good time. You have humbled me and have been my refuge from the chaos that is UofT. UNSOC has always meant a lot to me, and will always mean a lot to me.
I remember attending my first conference in high school at UTMUN 2011. I was a scared kid, not knowing what to expect. My Chair at the conference was Katie D’Angelo. After the conference, when she found out that I was going to be going to UofT, she pestered me to join UNSOC. She was the incoming President, and I ran as her Novice Representative for that year. Katie became my big sister at UofT and I learned a lot from her. UNSOC became my family because of her.
I became friends with other members of UNSOC, and especially my fellow Executive Members. Chris Edwards, Robert Boissonneault, Shannon Snow, and Aakaash Madhavan. They became my crew. They got me into drinking, especially at the Sin & Redemption with glasses of Fruliriums. They became part of who I am. We worked together again in my second year, when I served as UNSOC’s Conferences Director. It was a thankless job, handling all of the logistics of conference registration, accommodations and transportation. It was all worth it, as I ended up with awards at all of the conferences I attended.
In my third year, I served as the President of UNSOC and I was proud to lead such a wonderful community and family. I tried to balance being welcoming and friendly with competitiveness. The two values are not in conflict with each other, but work hand in hand. I’ve always believed that. I was proud to lead our club to its first ranking on Best Delegate as one of the top 50 teams in North America.
Under my Presidency, I worked with Sammy Lau, David Kitai and Umer Saeed, working hard to combine the different Model UN organizations on campus together into one family: UNSOC, NAMUN, UTMUN and SSICsim. We worked to maintain friendly relationship between each of the different clubs. I’ve always believed that delegates can become better when they have experience chairing and organizing a conference. And conferences can become better by attending other conferences as a delegate: competing, learning what other conferences do to be better, and spreading the brand of NAMUN to others on the circuit. Unfortunately, that project to combine the Model UN groups on campus has stalled, but I still believe in that vision and it would make UofT’s Model UN Community one of the best on the circuit, if we were to make it happen.
Over the last few years, I’ve spent time as a dinosaur. I’ve stepped back from my leadership roles with the organization, and instead, offered my aid and counsel if it was needed. I continued to attend conferences to compete, winning a few awards here and there for the Society. I was proud to see Misha Boutilier, Rachel Ball-Jones, and Venessa Secktakoff lead the Society in their own ways as my successors to the Presidency. I met David Lee, a former President of UNSOC in 2005[?], who taught me a lot about the history of the club. I chaired a committee based on the TV show 24 for SSICsim, and I was really proud of how exciting it was, how we integrated the real-time aspect to the crises, and how the high school students enjoyed it.
Most importantly, I got to see my young kids, like Stanley Treivus, Benson Cheung, Sasha Boutilier, Ivana Vujeva, John Masangkay and Avel Ivanov — who was one of my delegates in the 24 committee — and many others grow into the Family and become fantastic delegates, leaders and people. That’s one of the most satisfying things about leadership – seeing the people you led grow up in the community.
If I can say a final few words: Rumours and negativity have no place in UNSOC. Don’t let it become this way. Be the family that you say you want to be. Attacking each other’s characters is a dangerous path. Leadership is not about getting ahead or being strong in front of everyone. It’s about staying humble and learning to cultivate a community. It’s about learning to love the community you serve. Nick Buhite, it’s your turn to lead the Society.
I will cherish every moment I had in UNSOC – all of the conferences, all of the arguments, all of the Exec meetings, all of the parties, all of the drinking, all of the studying, all of the family. Truly, you’ve been the best part of my undergraduate experience, and for that I am eternally grateful. Thank you, and farewell.
